Digital

Samsung is striking while the iron is hot and has recruited Laina Walker, the overly attached girlfriend. While this might boost Samsung as a brand, knowing the kids and shit, I’m pretty sure it’ll be the beginning of the end for Laina’s. But on the other hand, her few minutes of fame will probably not last very long either way. Copy/Lyrics are spot on with references to everything an upper teenager should be scared of online.

So there’s this pizza company in the US called Mellow Mushroom Pizza. If you follow them on Twitter they’ll follow you back, what they won’t tell you is that their mascot might follow you as well…

I think this is a funny ad; I dig that freakish mascot and its perverted psycho smile. But do I think anyone should advertise just to get more twitter followers? Sure you’ll get brand recognition and some love for the great ad. But with two calls to actions in one ad, should the first one really be follow us on twitter and we’ll follow you back? Then directly followed by “go to our website for X and X”. Couldn’t they have started the ad with follow us on twitter and we’ll follow you back?

I do think it’s better as it is now. An unexpected ending is always a big kicker and I always get a great feeling when and ending surprises me.

Advertising have somewhat become a tech-race. As the space race was dependent on hardware, this race is built on social media and digital technology. Many times the agency and brand that are first to use certain social media in a new way will reap the benefits, both in consumer awareness and advertising rewards. I actually wondered who’d be the first to use Instagram somewhat like this (though I had a travelling catalogue in mind).

Both Facebook and Twitter have been used a lot for advertising campaigns. And although I don’t see this as an ad campaign, I do see it as marketing using a new social media. So let the Insta-games begin, we will soon be flooded with campaigns there as well.

Ok, saying it’s a print ad isn’t really true. The technology isn’t very revolutionizing either; it’s just a piece of paper over an iPad. The really cool thing is that no one thought of this before. It looks really amazingly cool.

I have one concern though; it’s a freaking hassle to take out your iPad when you’re reading an actual magazine. It’s even more of a hassle when you have to scan a QR code to get to a website, type in a link or even download an app. When will we see NFC in the spine of the magazine or book? I know I can’t wait for it.

Too bad Apple doesn’t want in on it. They’re waiting for others to make it mainstream. Whereas if Apple would’ve added it to the iPhone 5 it would’ve gone mainstream over night…

Android has voice translation, so when Google launched their own Nexus phone they wanted to promote this feature.

GlueIsobar in London made this funny ad. It uses the first of April launch date context greatly. Using Christmas or the different seasons to advertise is everyday business. But being brave enough to make an April fools’ ad, that’s really something. Google aren’t really known for being as cowardly as other brands their size, but this still stands out. It shows that they believe their users and potential buyers are smart. Smart enough to understand this ad, think it’s hilarious and like them all the more for it.

A not so long time ago social media campaigns equaled Facebook likes. This have changed quickly, both brands and agencies understand that a like in itself isn’t worth anything. It’s how you use that like and how people interact with your brand that’s interesting.

The like isn’t forgotten; it’s measured in countless case movies and still has its place. It’s just not in the spotlight as it used too. CP+B took this to their hearts and created a Facebook campaign that was the complete opposite to all previous ones.

The Most Exclusive Page of Facebook

This is the Facebook page for the Grey Poupon mustard brand. Getting into the club isn’t easy. You have to pass a test of taste. An app will scan your Facebook likes to see if you have good enough taste to be a Grey Poupon fan. You can like the page without doing the test, but you’ll be thrown out within 24 hours.

I think this is brilliant. Exclusivity is desirable and in a universe where brands pay people to like them, Grey Poupon is doing the opposite. It’s a remarkably simple way to stand out. And who wouldn’t want to be seen as someone with great taste?

Your first love is always special. It’s likely that it won’t feel as good the second time, it’ll still be love but you’ve built up a tolerance of sort. Apparently that is not true for me when I fall for ad agencies. I haven’t felt like this in a year, when I found the works of Dare’s Vancouver office.
Now I have found something in the Big Apple. The agency isn’t big, but the ideas and concepts are.

Ben & Jerry’s
These campaigns have a hard focus on social media and small budgets. But the use of both Twitter and Facebook is phenomenal.

Fairtweets –Twitter

I think this is a very clever idea. I don’t usually like ideas that can work on a number of brands. But in this case I don’t see that problem. Instead I’m envious of the guys who came up with this idea. Being first at an idea that could’ve worked for a number of charitable organizations. I think that’s something impressive, especially when the idea is as good as this.

Wanna spoon? – Facebook

It’s a very clever insight about how Facebook campaigns should work. What I like so much about this campaign is that it’s actually social. It’s not just a clever viral ad and a “share on Facebook”-button attached. This is a campaign that helps you connect to lost friends. It’s not focused on mass sharing, but the one-on-one sharing, which of course eventually leads to mass sharing – but it’s not the focus. Ben & Jerry’s helps you start a dialogue with old friends. Branding themselves not so much as a cool brand, but a brand that’s involved in and care about their customers’ relationships.

CarMax – Super Bowl TV-spots

The top one is my favorite, easy choice. It’s visual, nicely edited and every time the camera cuts I chuckle a little. But the second ad is not as good. On the idea/concept level it was probably as good as the first. I think it’s clever, it gets the point across, but the actor is neither fun nor believable. All the ingredients are all there but something’s wrong with the recipe.

Ultimat Vodka
The guerilla ad for this brand got a huge media spread. But the same insight was also used for prints, outdoor and banners. It’s also cool to see how differently the tone of voice is compared to the CarMax ads. They’re both humorous and from the same agency but hits completely different target groups.

Window Cleaner – Guerilla/Event/Real Life Interaction

If your target group is rich people who work all the time, you know where to find them – at the top floors. So if they won’t come to you, why not go to them? Point out their lack of social life, and how little they see their family. Show your brand as a solution, the balancer of their life.

Get Offline – Banners

Banners are a hard medium to work in, the formats are weird if you’re used to print or TV and no one seem to notice them. So for a banner to be visible, there has to be an idea. Something that can catch us off guard, there is no other way past banner blindness. And I think the rich-media-use in this ad does just that. It’s the greatest display ad I’ve seen since I first saw Zappos streaker. But this ad have a harder task, it’s confined within that small box and can’t run all over the place. Big props on the media buy as well, bullseye on strategy.

The campaign also came with print ads, and tbh… these are kind of harsh, but I still like them. It hits you were it hurts, but also offers a solution (of sort) to your problem.

From what I can find at AdAge, the agency is 35 employees small. So thank all of you at Silver + Partners, you turned the start of my week into a weirdly emotional one. Filled with a mix of envy and adoration. This is the type of advertising I want and hope to do in my future career.

Forsman & Bodenfors have a very special place in my heart. Not only because of their great work, but because it was their advertising that made me choose this career path. There is one ad I remembered specifically, and it’s the one just below. I apologize in advance for all the Swedish ads, I’ll try to explain them as well as possible, but some of them won’t translate very well. Luckily the first one has headlines.

Familjen Dafgård Kama Sutra

It’s such a brilliant ad. It doesn’t speak much about the food, but it does tell the story of how easily you can get dinner ready when you absolutely have to. It’s easily one of my favorite ads of all time. The casting is perfect for the script. On one hand the idea is so funny and simple. On the other hand I can’t imagine the amount of time it’d take me to stumble upon an idea like this.

Västtrafik Tram Sightseeing
During the last few years public transport have often been promoted on it’s environmental benefits. But Forsman & Bodenfors took a completely different approach. They saw it as an opportunity for the cheapest guided tour possible.

I believe this is the cleverest use I’ve seen of mobile yet. Sure there are a lot of cool branded apps but few add something useful to my life. Sadly I haven’t tried it yet as I’m stuck in Karlskrona. But I will visit Gothenburg later this year and then I have to try it out. The only bad thing I can see with it is that a lot of tourists will get pretty high phone bills due to the data usage, but maybe you can prep it over WiFi. Which leads us to the next campaign.

Tele2 only free is cheaper
Everyone has been told of how they must protect their WiFi with passwords and encryption, but apparently some people missed the memos. Forsman & Bodenfors saw an opportunity. With an outdoor campaign telling people how they could use the Internet for free.

From left to right the ads read:Here you can surf the web using the “pizzalover” network. But there’s a lot of people using it so sometimes it might be a bit slow.There’s an open network here. Thank the Lidman family for that. Just enter: “FamiljenLidman”Right here there aren’t many open networks. Try over at Nytorget instead.”

I think that this is just the start. We’re not far away from companies offering WiFi at bus stops to promote their service. However, here we have something completely different. Tele2 is offering other people’s access to anyone who wants. And tell them that if they want to keep browsing the Internet where there is no free access, the cheapest way is to use Tele2. What I like about this approach is that it’s so unexpected for a big telecom company to do something like this.

The cool part of this campaign is that all these networks could be accessed at the start of the campaign.

Apotekets Magtest
The ads for the Swedish pharmacy Apoteket were some of my absolute favorites last year. Instead of showing illustrated or animated shots of this and that part of your stomach, they dreamed up a metaphor where a stomach is the world’s most chaotic office.

Every character represent a different part of your digestive system the stomach and the small intestine as well as the large intestine. All the ads end with the question “What’s the working environment like inside your stomach? Take our stomach test.

The humor is great as well as the style, but I find that the absurdity in the ads is what makes them perfect. Compared to other ads talking about stomach problems it’s nothing short of amazing. It’s humorous without fart jokes and still makes you think and wonder. It’s a testament to the fact that you don’t need a convincing guy in a white coat in medical ads and you definitely don’t need cheap and boring animations.

Kalles i Tokyo
There have been many brands promoting how good they are by associating their product to national pride. Few ads have shown how people from other counties can’t stand the product. So with this approach Forsman & Bodenfors promoted a Swedish spread as the opposite of ‘Big in Japan’.

To explain this a bit Kalles Kaviar is a, comparably, cheap Caviar brand that is used every day on Swedish sandwiches, preferably in combination with a hard boiled egg.

I think this ad summarizes why I love Forsman & Bodenfors. Their ideas are so different but still sell the product perfectly. And while other agencies also do this, few can do it with the subtlety and elegance with which Forsman & Bodenfors does it.